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INDIANAPOLIS — The year is 2021, Jim Boeheim is 76 years old, and Syracuse is going to the Sweet 16 as an 11-seed. 

This season’s group has Buddy Boeheim wearing the cape. The junior scored just three points in the first half Sunday against West Virginia but erupted for 22 in the final frame. He hit a pull-up two and a stare-down 3 down the stretch, as well as three free throws in the game’s waning seconds. 

If the last few games were blockbuster superhero movies starring Buddy, the superstar, this was more of an ensemble cast. WVU’s pressure defense keyed in on Buddy — who entered averaging 26.2 points per game in six March games — but his sidekicks picked up the slack as he took a half to heat up. Every starter scored in the game’s opening seven minutes, and four finished with double figures.

To ice the game, Syracuse didn’t need Buddy to play hero ball. Freshman point guard Kadary Richmond found Robert Braswell for a 3 after a great back cut. Marek Dolezaj slipped to the cup and touch-passed to Quincy Guerrier for a dunk. WVU’s once-patented press gave SU a serious scare, but Buddy hit free throws after Richmond made a crucial play by dribbling through traffic across halfcourt, avoiding a late turnover. The Orange (18-9, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) held on for a 75-72 win over the No. 3-seed Mountaineers (19-10, 11-6 Big 12).

“Look around,” Boeheim said. “Look at some of the teams that are out. It’s really hard to get to the Sweet 16.”

Boeheim, the oldest coach to ever reach the Sweet 16, led his team to its third regional semifinal since 2016. In that span, only Gonzaga and Michigan — if the Wolverines win tomorrow — have been to more. And like SU did in 2018, the Orange have won two NCAA Tournaments games after barely making the field of 68.

“When I started coaching … I think we went to 14 or 15 Sweet 16s,” Boeheim said. “Some of them, I don’t even think we celebrated.”

This Sweet 16 berth, the first of Buddy’s career and his father’s 20th, was of course worth celebrating. Buddy hugged his teammates after WVU’s last-second heave got blown dead for a travel, then jumped in celebration with his teammates when the final buzzer sounded. 

West Virginia was a perfect matchup for the Orange — WVU, which allows a high rate of open jumpers, ran into Buddy and a jump shooting team. WVU head coach Bob Huggins called out plays opposite a coach who’s historically had his number (Boeheim’s now 6-1 against Huggins). The Mountaineers clocked in as one of the five worst zone offenses in the nation this season, per Synergy, and Syracuse’s 2-3 unsurprisingly gave them fits in the first half.

The Bankers Life Fieldhouse crowd, reduced in size but leaning Orange, fueled the energetic Joe Girard III early on. The 33.1% shooter hit his first three 3-pointers. He stepped into a pull-up 3 off a Dolezaj screen, then jogged back on defense after the jumper swished through, waving his arms up and down to egg on Orange fans. He slapped hands with Buddy at the top of the zone, clapped his hands twice, then several times more when Dolezaj took a charge to give SU possession back. 

A few minutes later, Girard’s defender went under another Dolezaj pick, so Girard pulled up again, this time from about 30 feet. He sunk it — his third consecutive — then hustled inside to poke away a steal on the other end. His fourth triple came from the logo, and he put his finger up to his mouth to shush the crowd on his way back down the court. 

“It was really good to see the fans,” Boeheim said on March 20. “I think Joe really reacted to it the best. I think he’s missed that the most probably on the team.”

Girard, the ire of much of SU’s fanbase this year — and that of one anonymous ACC coach — showed up when it suddenly, desperately needed him. Though he didn’t score in the second half, Girard recorded 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. 

As the Orange offense hummed, their 2-3 zone scatterbrained the Mountaineers. On consecutive possessions, guard Taz Sherman threw errant passes through the baseline. SU’s backline challenged shots at the rim and broke up lob attempts with Jesse Edwards stepping into Dolezaj’s spot because of foul trouble. A flurry of 3-pointers saved WVU’s 3-point percentage before halftime, but Huggins’ team still turned the ball over 11 times in the first 20 minutes — one shy of its season average per game.

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Defensively, WVU bled open looks. Weak-side defenders helped off shooters. Occasionally, the Mountaineers switched screens or doubled the post seemingly at random. Its aggressive style made it vulnerable to slipped and off-ball screens. 

In the five games leading up to Sunday, Syracuse was second in the nation in offensive efficiency. When Buddy caught fire again in the second half, it’s possible the best scoring team in the nation was operating. Assistant coach Gerry McNamara encouraged Buddy in the locker room at halftime — “I don’t care if you miss 200, just keep shooting,” Buddy remembers McNamara saying. 

West Virginia cut Syracuse’s 35-29 halftime lead to three in the second half, but Buddy responded with two more 3-pointers — one of which was wide open at the top of the arc. Nobody picked him up. Buddy started 1-for-4 from deep but finished 6-for-13. 

Early in the year, Buddy said he let misses get to his head. Not anymore. His mindset’s changed. Hitting 32-of-66 3-pointers (48.5%) in March helps. 

“Early in the year, when I missed a couple I’d start pressing myself and really start thinking about my shots,” Buddy said. “And just changing my mindset, starting to attack, going off the dribble, getting into the lane better. Just continuing to believe in myself, always keep going.” 

Syracuse will now face No. 2 Houston in the Sweet 16 on Saturday. Courtesy of Joe Robbins | Getty Images

Behind Buddy, Syracuse went on a 12-3 run. Richmond came alive, and Dolezaj fed inside to Guerrier for a dunk. Sean McNeil (23 points) hit a 3 to make it 72-66 with 53.5 left. The Mountaineers wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t pretty for the Orange, as WVU cut the lead to two after a Dolezaj turnover and a missed Girard free throw, but SU did just enough to win.

Three weeks ago, after Duke and Georgia Tech handed SU back-to-back losses, the Orange were kicked off the bubble. SU had barely scraped by Buffalo, Bryant and Northeastern, and it dropped two demoralizing games against lowly Pittsburgh. Hope was lost among fans and many commentators, as Boeheim has repeatedly referenced since.

The Orange then took their season on a 180 and beat North Carolina, Clemson and NC State, the latter in the ACC Tournament, to close the year and earn an 11-seed on the bubble. The defense gradually improved, and Buddy picked up steam. SU won three of four games — the loss coming on UVA Reece Beekman’s buzzer-beater — all of which kept it alive before flying to Indianapolis.

Then came the drubbing of No. 6 San Diego State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Hinkle Fieldhouse. SU played as well as it has all year, the peaks and valleys act yielding to only skyscraping mountains. From the summit, it offensively overpowered West Virginia. 

“If you were to ask me a month or two months ago where we’d be, I wouldn’t say Sweet Sixteen, that’s for sure,” Buddy said. 

So SU got the March Madness invite, and as it’s made a habit of doing — Syracuse advanced to the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed in 2016 and 2018 — it’s flaunting the ticket it punched for everyone to see into the Sweet 16. Syracuse has officially had a more successful season than UNC, Duke, Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan State, Texas, Illinois and Ohio State. 

SU’s turnaround still isn’t over.

Published on March 21, 2021 at 7:40 pm

Contact Danny: [email protected] | @DannyEmerman